An American scandal gives us a chilling insight into the twisted logic of the self-styled ‘pro-life’ lobby.

More might have been made by the common-sense side in the abortion debate of the Colorado case of Lori Stodghill. The 31-year-old was seven months pregnant with twins when she arrived vomiting and gasping for breath at St. Thomas More hospital in Cañon City on New Year’s Day 2006. She passed out within minutes and died within the hour: the on-call obstetrician had failed to respond to paging.

Okay, a dearth of wistful whimsy there. But undertones of Great Ginsberg and total authenticity. We’ll come back to the other stuff soon. In the meantime, keep an eye out for the name on a poster.

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